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Maverick Records was launched in April 1992 as unit of the Maverick entertainment company; a joint venture between Madonna, Frederick DeMann, Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev and Time Warner.[1] The name is combined from the names of the main founders Madonna Veronica and Frederick. At the time of its launch, the company was bi-coastal; having offices in both New York City and Los Angeles. The record company division of Maverick also consisted of sub-label, Maverick Musica (a Miami, Florida-based satellite label focusing on Latin-American music) and Maverick Music Publishing. The first album released under Maverick Records was Madonna's fifth studio album, Erotica (1992).

Platinum record (middle) for Madonna's 2001 greatest hits album, GHV2, which was released by Maverick Records.

Maverick's first commercial success was with the self-titled debut album by Seattle-based grunge rock band Candlebox; released in 1993, the album would go on to be RIAA certified quadruple platinum in the United States. The following year, the label signed Canadian musician Alanis Morissette, whose third album (and Maverick debut) Jagged Little Pill was released in 1995, and would be eventually certified 16x platinum in the U.S. (with international sales of thirty-three million)–making it the best selling album in the label's history, and of the 1990s.

By the early 2000s, Maverick saw its commercial fortunes decline and business operations financially unravel. In March 2004, the label filed suit against Warner Music Group (and its former parent company, Time Warner); claiming that mismanagement of resources and poor bookkeeping had cost the company millions of dollars. Warner filed a countersuit, alleging that Maverick had lost tens of millions of dollars on its own.[2][3] On June 14, 2004, the dispute was resolved when Maverick shares owned by Madonna and Dashev were purchased — which effectively exiled the two of them from the company, as it then became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. Then Maverick CEO Guy Oseary, meanwhile, would retain his position until WMG purchased his label shares in 2006. The same year, the band Lillix, which at the time was signed to the label, claimed that the Maverick no longer existed and that all the artists were now directly handled by Warner Bros. directly. In 2007 the record company folded.[4]

As of 2012, Maverick Records' two most successful artists Alanis Morissette and Michelle Branch are no longer affiliated with the label. Morissette left in 2009 after the release of Flavors of Entanglement, while Branch left in 2007 after disbanding The Wreckers. As of February 2015, the only Maverick recording artists still signed to Warner Music are Muse (who were transferred to Warner Bros. Records in 2003), Deftones (transferred to Reprise Records) and The Prodigy (who returned to Warner Bros. in 2014).

Maverick Records brought young file-sharer Whitney Harper to court and won the case. Harper was ordered to pay $750 per song for the three dozen uploaded on the Internet.[5]